Plunger and cylinder for pump



Oct. 16, 1956 A. E. GIRAUDEAU PLUNGER AND CYLINDER FOR PUMP 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 9. 1955 INVENTOR.

Oct. 16, 1956 A. E. GIRAUDEAU PLUNGER AND CYLINDER FOR PUMP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 9, 1953 JNVENTOR.

lge/if United tates Patent PLUNGER AND CYLINDER FOR PUMP Anthony E. Giraudeau, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to The National Supply Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 9, 1953, Serial No. 341,279

1 Claim. (Cl. 10S-153) The invention has to do with water ood pumps and more particularly with the plunger, cylinder, and stuffing box arrangement of water flood pumps.

lt is the custom in the oil fields when a field is depleted to an extent such that production is no longer profitable, to pump water down some wells in order to force the remaining oil in the formation toward another well so that the oil may be recovered therefrom in the normal fashion. This systematic driving of oil to a producing well is called water flooding. In order for this to be effective the pumps must maintain the water pressure down the wells at about 2000 p. s. i. To release this pressure means losing the drive on the oil with a consequent loss of production. lt is therefore desirable to maintain the pumps in operation at all times and to have shut-down time at a minimum.

lt is an object of this invention to employ a pump which is simple to assemble and is susceptible of rapid and easy replacement of wear parts.

A particular object of the invention is to make the cylinder head and the stuiiing box an integral unit, so as to permit quick removal and replacement of the stuffing box.

Another object of the invention is to make the plunger removable from the crosshead, so as to permit removal and replacement of the stuffing box and the plunger as a unit. ln practice it has been found that the stuffing box packing is the first part to need replacement, and it needs replacement often. Heretofore this required removal of the gland nut, the removal of the old packing, the tedious repacking, ring by ring, of the new packing, and, finally, the replacement of the gland nut. Since the time element is so important, often a hurriedjob of placing the packing over the plunger is done wrong, and the job must be done again. The present invention greatly reduces this detrimental non-operating time by requiring only the steps of unfastening the plunger and cylinder head and removing a gland nut from the stuffing box, then removal and replacement of the entire unit, a job easily and quickly handled by only one man. The replacement of the stuffing box packing and the positioning of the plunger therein can then be done at leisure at the bench in the spare unit while the pump is running.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pump arrangement such that a change in plunger size can be rapidly made. The plunger size can be changed in the same manner that a stuffing box is replaced, merely inserting a unit with the desired new plunger and stuffing box sizes.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a cylinder, plunger arrangement which has a minimum end clearance for greater etciency in cylinder filling.

Other objects will become apparent from the description of a preferred embodiment hereinafter described and claimed, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this discolsure, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, and in which drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of the water flood pump, showing the cylinder, plunger, stuffing box arrangement.

2,766,701 Patented Oct. 16, 1956 Fig. 2 is an end view of the pump showing the removable cylinder heads.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of Fig. 1 showing the plunger and stuffing box arrangement.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the cylinder head, stuffing box unit. f

The water flood pump designated generally at 1 has a casing 2 with a crankshaft 3 rotatably mounted in one end thereof. The crankshaft 3 has a crankpin 4 on which is mounted connecting rod 5. The pump may be of any desired number of cylinders, each being identical in structure and function, so that the description of one cylinder arrangement will sui-lice for all. The connecting rod 5 is in turn connected by means of wrist pin 6 to the crosshead 7. The crosshead 7 is mounted in guideways 8, which are an integral part of the casing 2, for sliding movement therein. The crosshead has a crosshead rod 9 formed as an integral part thereof and extending parallel to the direction of reciprocation of the crosshead. The rod 9 extends through bore 10 in the casing 2. Plate 11 is secured to the casing 2 by means of screws 12 and carries seal 13 through which the rod 9 passes, sealing the crosshead guides 8 against foreign material from outside the casing 2, and forming a sealed lubricant chamber 14 within the easing for the moving parts.

The outermost end of the rod 9 is threaded at 15 for the mounting of the removable plunger 16. Plunger-16 may be metal, ceramic, or ceramic coated metal and has an internally threaded end 17 to mate with the threaded end 15 of rod 9. The outer end surface of the plunger can be hexagonal to facilitate the mounting of the plunger on the rod with a wrench.

Casing 2, at the opposite end from the crankshaft 3, has the fluid end 20 of the pump mounted thereon. The fluid end 20 has inlet valve 21 and discharge valve 22 mounted therein. A bore 23 concentric with the axis of the plunger 16 forms part of the chamber 24 in the fluid end. A hollow sleeve 25 closed at one end 26 is mounted in bore 23. The sleeve 25 is bored transversely at 27 and 27a to permit passage of the working fluid through the chamber 24. At the Closed end of the sleeve a flange 28 integral therewith has studs 29 passing there* through to secure the sleeve in the bore 23 by means of nuts 29a. Sealing rings 30 and 31 are used between the sleeve and the fluid end to seal the chamber 24 from the atmosphere. The bore 32 of the sleeve 25 is of a diameter slightly greater than that of plunger 16. And the end 26 of the sleeve is so placed that a minimum end clearance is had between the plunger 16 and the end wall 26 when the plunger is at the extreme limit of the pumping stroke. Ring 33 is a guide ring engaging in annular groove 34 of the casing 2 and annular groove 35 of the fluid end 20 to facilitate alignment of the parts when the fluid end is mounted on the casing by means of studs 36.

The sleeve 25 is of sufficient length to extend into the casing 2 and surround the plunger 16 over a considerable portion of its length so as to form the stuffing box 37 therewith. The sleeve 25 has a counterbore 38 at its open end, of a diameter greater than that of bore 32 thereby forming a shoulder 39 therebetween. Mounted in the counterbore 3S is a junk ring 40 which is of a suffcient width so the plunger 16 in its most retracted position during operation will not withdraw from the ring. Packing rings 41 are mounted in the counterbore adjacent ring 40 and a follower gland 42 is mounted in the counterbore adjacent the packing rings. The outside surface of the sleeve 25 is threaded at 43 and a gland nut 44 is mounted thereon. The nut 44 has a shoulder 45 which engages the gland 42. Thus a tightening of the nut 44 will compress the packing rings between shoulder 4S ofthe nut and shoulder 39 of the sleeve, forcingthem radially inwardly into sealing engagement with the plunger 16.

The operation of the device is as follows. During normal operation of the pump it may become necessary to replace the packing rings 41 of the stutlin'g box. A spare unit including the sleeve member 2`5,'the`packing elements, and the plunger mounted therein is brought to the pump from the work bench. The pump is then shut down. Nuts 29a rare removed so as to permit removal of sleeve 25. The plunger 16 is unscrewed from rod 9. Gland nut 44 is removed'and can be hung on rod 9, and the remainng assembly is pulled out through the fluid end. The spare unit, including plunger, packing, and sealing rings 30 and 31, is placed in the bore 23 and the connections reassembled. Thus in a very short time a complete change can be made by 'one man and the pump Vagain started. The removed unit 'can then be taken to the work bench, the plunger removed and inspected, the packing rings replaced, the plunger put back in the packing and the unit can be used as the next replacement unit. While the pump is running, time can be taken to do an adequate replacement andre'pairjob, and no time-cutting short cuts are needed, which may result in inadequate parts replacement.

If it is desired to change the plunger size, the same procedure would be followed. A unit made up of a plunger and stuing-box assembly of the desired size would be used as the replacement unit.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim 4as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

A pump comprising a cylinder block having a bore therethrough, inlet and outlet ports in said block opening laterally into said bore and having inlet and outlet valves mounted respectively therein, drive means including a reciprocating member, a plunger removably attached to said reciprocating member, a stung box cartridge mounted in said bore, said cartridge comprising a cylindrical sleeve surrounding said plunger and having ports in communication with the inlet and outlet ports in said cylinder block, a flange integral with one end of -said sleeve remote from said reciprocating member forming a 'closure head'for'both V said sleeve and said cylinder bore and engaging said cylinder block for securement of said sleeve to said block, said sleeve extending a substantial distance beyond said cylinder block toward said reciprocating member and terminating in an open, externally screw-threaded end, a counterbore in said open end of said sleeve, lan internal shoulder formed by the end of said counterbore remote from said reciprocating member, an adjustable packing mounted in said counterbore, abutting said shoulder, and engaging said plunger in sealing relationship therewith, a follower gland slidable in said sleeve and adjustably engaging said packing on the side of said packing toward said reciprocating member, and an internally screwth'r'eaded gland nut screw-threadedly received on said externally screw-threaded end of said sleeve, said nut having an inwardly directed shoulder on the side of said nut adjacent said reciprocating member, said shoulder adjustably engaging said follower gland endwise against the end of said follower gland toward said reciprocating member to slide said follower gland in said sleeve, thereby tovadjust said packing, and said plunger, sleeve, `flange, `packing and follower gland being removable from and replaceable in said cylinder bore as a unit.

References Cited in the tile of tl*o patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,805,542 Gardner May 19, 1931 1,995,836 Buckwalter Mar. 26, 1935 '2,045,196 Mohr June 23, v1936 2,563,949 Magnuson Aug. 14, 1951 2,595,592 Magnuson May 6, l1952 l2,655,870 Yohpe Oct. 20, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 192,844 v"Switzerland Nov. 16, 1937 

